Publications

October 2011 (Revised October 2013)
Case

Gracious Eloise: What Do Angels Want? (A)

By: Lena G. Goldberg, Janet Kraus and Mary Beth Findlay

Eloise Bune successfully turned an idea into a product, but could she persuade angel investors that she had a business worth investing in? The case details her interactions with the angel investors and explores the role of angel investors in providing financial... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Investment Return; Business Startups; Business Plan; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations

December 2017 (Revised November 2018)
Case

Tesla Motors (B): Merging with SolarCity

By: Stuart C. Gilson and Sarah L. Abbott

In 2016, electric car manufacturer Tesla announced that it was making an offer to acquire solar panel manufacturer SolarCity in an all-stock offer worth $2.6 billion in Tesla stock. Tesla’s co-founder and CEO, Elon Musk, believed that the merger would generate... View Details

Keywords: M＆A; M＆A Valuation; Investing; Equities; Equity; Valuation; Mergers and Acquisitions; Auto Industry; Energy Industry; United States

December 2019 (Revised January 2020)
Case

Boll & Branch

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger and Mel Martin

Boll & Branch is a direct-to-consumer (DTC) business launched in 2015. It was the first Fair-Trade Certified manufacturer of linens. The case provides background on the company, its start, business model, and evolution through 2019. View Details

Keywords: Direct-to-consumer; Channels; Disruption; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Internet and the Web; Strategy; Retail Industry; United States; Canada

Web

FAQ - MBA

Engineering Sciences Program distinctive? This program has a balanced emphasis on engineering, design, and business fundamentals—all of which are crucial for success when leading technology ventures. To succeed, a technology View Details

23 Jul 2024
In Practice

The New Rules of Trade with China: Navigating Tariffs, Turmoil, and Opportunities

When former President Donald Trump slapped sweeping tariffs on Chinese imports in 2019, the economic dynamics between the world’s two biggest economies forever shifted. American businesses hoping President Joe Biden would return to... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Manufacturing; Retail; Fashion; Industrial Products; Consumer Products; Steel; Transportation; Telecommunications

January 1999 (Revised December 2000)
Case

Finale

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III, Michael J. Roberts and Matthew C. Lieb

Designed for use with "Room for Dessert" to show the changes between creating the initial business plans and starting to serve customers. Conforti and Moore have to both manage the business and deliver service to customers on a day-to-day basis in the initial location... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Business Plan; Entrepreneurship; Customer Satisfaction

April 2005 (Revised January 2006)
Case

Epodia: Demise of the HBS case-writing Monopoly?

Karl Ulrich, Wharton professor, must decide between a commercial and "open source" model for his new business case venture. Students analyze a variety of open source and proprietary business models and formulate strategic recommendations. View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Business Startups; Cases; Management; Open Source Distribution; Business Strategy

Find at Harvard

December 2000
Background Note

Online Portals

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Sanjay Pothen

Describes the online portal business model. Analyzes the model, focusing on the tactics used to acquire new users, turn new users into repeat visitors, and monetize user traffic. Explains portals' revenue and cost drivers and their implications for pursuing aggressive... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Web Services Industry

Web

HBS Veteran Spotlight: Rex Willis (MBA 2024) - MBA

Business & Environment Career Change Career and Professional Development Case Method Clubs Curriculum Digital Entrepreneurship FIELD Financial Aid Health Care Instagram Takeover JD/MBA Leadership Letters to Classmates MBA/MPP & MBA/MPA-ID... View Details

12 Mar 2019
Blog Post

What I Learned in the Africa Rising Short Intensive Program

building relational goodwill in the markets in which the ventures were meant to operate. In years past, African nations have (sadly) needed to repeat the refrain that “Africa is not a country”. In the 21st century, people seeking to... View Details

May 2020
Case

Numenta in 2020: The Future of AI

By: David B. Yoffie, Cameron Armstrong, Mei Tao and Marta Zwierz

In 2020, Numenta’s co-founder, Jeff Hawkins, completed his pathbreaking research on artificial intelligence. His co-founder and CEO, Donna Dubinsky, had to find a business model to monetize the technology. This case explores the challenges of building a business... View Details

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Monetization; Information Technology; Strategy; Intellectual Property; Business Model; AI and Machine Learning; Technology Industry

Web

Topics - HBS Working Knowledge

Model (23) Business Offices (4) Business Plan (2) Business Processes (4) Business Startups (38) Business Strategy... View Details

February 2001
Case

PlanetFeedback: The Voice of One ... The Power of Many (A)

By: James L. Heskett

The management of PlanetFeedback in proposes a merger with Intelliseek. Their goal is to create a comprehensive C2B and B2B business focused on the generation and analysis for business clients of consumer feedback data via the Internet, Planet Feedback's board of... View Details

Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions; Decisions; Information Management; Analytics and Data Science; Business Strategy; Internet and the Web; Information Technology Industry

23 May 2019
Book

These Entrepreneurs Take a Pragmatic Approach to Solving Social Problems

In 1908, Harvard Business School’s first dean, Edwin Francis Gay, welcomed the School’s inaugural class of 59 students by saying that HBS was challenged with encouraging its students to have the “intellectual respect for View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Green Technology

November 2020
Case

The 1,000-Year Plan: Lee Kum Kee and Sustaining a Family Culture

By: Lauren Cohen, Dawn H. Lau and Billy Chan

The Lee family, whose Hong Kong-based Lee Kum Kee company has established itself as a legend within the Chinese and Asian sauce world, sets out to create a daring new vision of what family legacy means. With the family business having been established in 1888, and by... View Details

Keywords: Family Business; Mission and Purpose; Values and Beliefs; Business and Community Relations; Organizational Structure; Strategic Planning

January 2009 (Revised February 2009)
Case

F-Secure Corporation: Software as a Service (SaaS) in the Security Solutions Market

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Robert D. Austin, Kalle Lyytinen, Esko Penttinen and Timo Saarinen

Describes the development of a business model based on "software as a service" (SaaS) for security solution distributed through Internet Service Providers (ISPs). F-Secure disruptively entered a mature business with dominant players by executing an innovative new... View Details

Keywords: Business Growth and Maturation; Business Model; Disruptive Innovation; Service Delivery; Internet; Information Technology Industry